William Patalon III
If you couldn’t tell, I’m a fan of Jack Ma.
The Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) founder is the “maestro of innovation,” who turned just another Chinese e-commerce outfit into a world-beating heavyweight that could give Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) a run for its money.
This past weekend, the company confirmed that Ma will be turning Alibaba’s reins over to CEO Daniel Zhang next year – and will step away from the company board in 2020.
Ma, trained as an English schoolteacher, will turn his focus to philanthropy and education – and will pursue “new dreams.”
This succession at the top of Asia’s most valuable company must feel quite disconcerting – especially coming, as it does, amid a scary trade spat between Washington and Beijing.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Blue Capital Reinsurance Holdings Ltd.(BCRH)
Blue Capital Reinsurance Holdings Ltd., incorporated on June 24, 2013, is an exempted limited liability company. Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides collateralized reinsurance in the property catastrophe market and invests in various insurance-linked securities. The Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Blue Capital Re, which is a Bermuda exempted limited liability company registered as a Class 3A insurer in Bermuda and provides collateralized reinsurance and Blue Capital Re ILS, which is a Bermuda exempted limited liability company that conducts hedging and other investment activities, including entering into industry loss warranties and purchasing catastrophe bonds operations.
As of December 31, 2014, the Company had $201.3 million of consolidated total assets. Blue Capital Re provides reinsurance to third-party insurance and reinsurance companies through reinsurance contracts, either directly with the cedant or on a fronted basis. Blue Capital Re also provides facultative retrocessional reinsurance to Blue Water Re.
The Company competes with Aeolus Capital Management; CatCo; Credit Suisse Asset Management; Leadenhall Capital; Lloyd’s of London; Nephila Capital Ltd.; Pillar Capital; RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. and Validus Holdings, Ltd.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Stephan Byrd]
RLI (NYSE: BCRH) and Blue Capital Reinsurance (NYSE:BCRH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.
- [By Max Byerly]
News articles about Blue Capital Reinsurance (NYSE:BCRH) have been trending somewhat positive on Wednesday, according to Accern Sentiment Analysis. The research group ranks the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Blue Capital Reinsurance earned a coverage optimism score of 0.19 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned news headlines about the insurance provider an impact score of 47.9769004082468 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the next few days.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Square, Inc.(SQ)
Square, Inc. develops and provides point-of-sale software worldwide. It provides Square Register, a point-of-sale system that takes care of digital receipts, inventory, and sales reports, as well as provides analytics and feedback. The company serves big and small businesses from bakeries to retailers. Its product, Square Register, is available in the App Store and on Google Play, and it is designed to run on a smartphone or tablet, and on counter. Square, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
- [By Adam Levy]
In Square’s (NYSE:SQ) fourth-quarter letter to shareholders, it named Instant Deposit first in its list of revenue growth drivers. Instant Deposit allows consumers and merchants to transfer funds from Square to their bank without waiting the usual clearance time of one to three days. Next on the list was Cash Card, the prepaid debit card that allows Cash App users to spend their balance directly instead of transferring it to a traditional bank first.
- [By Jordan Wathen, Matthew Frankel, CFP, and Dan Caplinger]
Below, three Fool.com contributors offer up Square (NYSE:SQ), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), and Visa (NYSE:V) as stocks that Lynch would likely love.
- [By Matthew Cochrane]
Several converging trends appear to be increasing the use of electronic and digital payment methods, seemingly at the expense of cash. E-commerce sales, where credit card use is twice as high as transactions made in person, continue to outpace total retail sales in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. Global e-commerce sales are expected to grow to $4.8 trillion by 2021, an approximate 75% increase over 2018’s projected totals. Two companies poised to take advantage of this trend are Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) and Square Inc (NYSE:SQ). Let’s take a closer look at each to determine which of these companies makes for a better investment today.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: United Natural Foods, Inc.(UNFI)
United Natural Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products in the United States and Canada. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, nutritional supplements and sports nutrition, bulk and foodservice products, and personal care products. It is also involved in importing, roasting, packaging, and distribution of nuts, dried fruit, seeds, trail mixes, granola, natural and organic snack items, and confections. In addition, the company offers Blue Marble Brands products on wholesale basis through third-party distributors in organic, natural, and specialty food brands, as well as directly to retailers. Further, it provides Field Day brand products primarily to customers in its independent natural products retailer channel. The company serves independently owned natural products retailers, supernatural chains, conventional supermarkets, and mass market chains, as well as foodservice and international customers outside Canada. It operates 13 natural products retail stores primarily in Florida. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.
- [By Asit Sharma]
Food wholesale giant United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI) has encountered a kink in its acquisition of competitor SUPERVALU: The wholesale and retail food distributor is performing below expectations just months after United Natural Foods (UNFI) purchased it for approximately $2.9 billion last October. UNFI’s fiscal second-quarter 2019 earnings, reported on Wednesday, also revealed a goodwill impairment charge related to the transaction that hurt net income and earnings per share. Note that in the discussion that follows, all comparable numbers refer to the prior-year quarter, the fiscal second quarter of 2018.
- [By Joseph Griffin]
United Natural Foods (NASDAQ:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.21. United Natural Foods had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 8.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts predict that United Natural Foods Inc will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: “United Natural Foods (UNFI) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade” was first published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are reading this story on another site, it was stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. & international copyright and trademark law. The legal version of this story can be viewed at www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4202046/united-natural-foods-unfi-shares-gap-down-on-analyst-downgrade.html.
United Natural Foods Company Profile (NASDAQ:UNFI)
- [By Motley Fool Transcribers]
United Natural Foods Inc (NASDAQ:UNFI)Q2 2019 Earnings Conference CallMarch 05, 2019, 5:00 p.m. ET
Contents:
Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:Operator
- [By Max Byerly]
United Natural Foods Inc (NASDAQ:UNFI)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $27.68 and last traded at $27.61, with a volume of 40599 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.44.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Evans Bancorp, Inc.(EVBN)
Evans Bancorp, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Evans Bank, N.A. that provides a range of banking products and services to consumer and commercial customers in Western New York. It operates through two segments, Banking Activities and Insurance Agency Activities. The company offers deposit products, which include checking and NOW accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. It provides residential mortgages; commercial and multi-family mortgages; commercial construction loans; home equities, such as home equity lines of credit and second mortgage loans; commercial and industrial loans comprising term loans and lines of credit; consumer loans, including direct automobile, recreational vehicle, boat, home improvement, and personal loans; other loans consisting of overdrafts and loan clearing accounts; installment loans; and direct financing leasing of commercial small-ticket general business equipment. In addition, the company sells various premium-based insurance policies, including business and personal insurance, surety bonds, risk management, life, disability, and long-term care coverage, as well as provides claims adjusting services and non-deposit investment products, such as annuities and mutual funds. It operates through 13 full-service banking offices in Erie County and Chautauqua County, New York. The company was founded in 1920 and is based in Hamburg, New York.
- [By Max Byerly]
LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Evans Bancorp Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:EVBN) by 93.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,200 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Evans Bancorp were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
- [By Ethan Ryder]
Evans Bancorp (NYSEAMERICAN:EVBN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Hovde Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. They presently have a $50.00 price objective on the bank’s stock. Hovde Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.16% from the stock’s previous close.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: KKR(KKR)
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, and mezzanine investments in large cap companies. The firm will consider investments in all industries globally, with a focus on financial services, infrastructure, and renewable energy. It seeks a board seat in its portfolio companies. The firm holds a controlling interest in its portfolio companies after they go public. It typically holds its investment for a period of five years and more and exits through initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and sales to strategic buyers. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. was founded in 1976 and is based at New York, New York with additional offices across United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Tim Melvin]
The heads of leading private-equity real estate investors including KKR & Co Inc. (NYSE: KKR) and BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) will be there.
Also there will be the analysts and investment bankers that cover real estate for the major firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).
- [By Ethan Ryder]
KKR & Co Inc (NYSE:KKR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,549,086 shares, an increase of 30.6% from the February 15th total of 10,378,172 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,191,365 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.
- [By Matthew DiLallo]
Where things get creative is in how NextEra Energy Partners will finance this acquisition. Instead of selling stock and diluting existing investors, the company entered into a convertible equity funding agreement with private equity giant KKR (NYSE:KKR). As part of the deal, NextEra Energy Partners will combine the acquired assets with four other existing wind facilities into a new portfolio. KKR will pay $900 million for an equity interest in the expanded portfolio that NextEra Energy Partners can buy out over time at a fixed rate of return.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Provident Financial Services, Inc(PFS)
The Company is a Delaware corporation which became the holding company for The Provident Bank (the “Bank”) on January 15, 2003, following the completion of the conversion of the Bank to a New Jersey-chartered capital stock savings bank. On January 15, 2003, the Company issued an aggregate of 59,618,300 shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share in a subscription offering, and contributed $4.8 million in cash and 1,920,000 shares of its common stock to The Provident Bank Foundation, a charitable foundation established by the Bank. As a result of the conversion and related stock offering, the Company raised $567.2 million in net proceeds, of which $293.2 million was utilized to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of the Bank. The Company owns all of the outstanding common stock of the Bank, and as such, is a bank holding company subject to regulation by the Federal Reserve Board. Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ethan Ryder]
Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 8,316 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.
- [By Logan Wallace]
SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) by 204.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,047 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,150 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
- [By Logan Wallace]
Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.88.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Weingarten Realty Investors(WRI)
Weingarten Realty Investors operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company engages in the management, acquisition, and development of real estate. It operates in two segments, Shopping Center and Industrial. The Shopping Center segment engages in the acquisition, development, and management of real estate, primarily anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers located in Texas, California, Louisiana, Arizona, Nevada, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Utah, Kentucky, and Maine. Its customer base includes supermarkets, discount retailers, drugstores, and other retailers. The Industrial segment engages in the acquisition, development, and management of bulk warehouses and office/service centers. Its properties are located in Texas, Nevada, Georgia, Florida, California, and Tennessee. As of June 30, 2005, Weingarten Realty Investors owned or operated under long -term leases, directly or through its interest in joint ventures or partnerships, a total of 350 developed properties and 3 properties that are in various stages of development. Its properties include 294 shopping centers and 59 industrial properties. Weingarten Realty Investors qualifies as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it would not be taxed on the portion of its income, which is distributed to shareholders, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income. The company was founded in 1948 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Stephan Byrd]
Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $127.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.99 million. Weingarten Realty Investors had a return on equity of 22.88% and a net margin of 80.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Weingarten Realty Investors will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: “Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI) Updates FY 2019 Earnings Guidance” was originally posted by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are reading this piece on another publication, it was stolen and republished in violation of US & international copyright and trademark law. The original version of this piece can be viewed at www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4167088/weingarten-realty-investors-wri-updates-fy-2019-earnings-guidance.html.
About Weingarten Realty Investors
- [By Ethan Ryder]
Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.14.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its position in Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,007 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Weingarten Realty Investors were worth $2,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: CoBiz Financial Inc.(COBZ)
CoBiz Financial Inc. (CoBiz), incorporated on February 19, 1980, is a financial holding company. The Company operates in three segments: Commercial Banking, Fee-Based Lines, and Corporate Support and Other. The Company’s Commercial Banking segment offers commercial, real estate and private banking, as well as treasury management, interest-rate hedging and depository products. The Company’s Fee-Based Lines segment offers employee benefits brokerage and consulting, insurance brokerage and wealth management services. The Company’s subsidiary CoBiz Bank (the Bank) is a full-service business banking institution serving approximately two markets, including Colorado and Arizona. In Colorado, the Bank operates under the name Colorado Business Bank and has over 10 locations, including approximately nine in the Denver metropolitan area, and others in Boulder, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Vail. In Arizona, the Bank operates under the name Arizona Business Bank and has over five locations serving the Phoenix metropolitan area and the surrounding area of Maricopa County.
The Company’s other subsidiaries include CoBiz Insurance, Inc. and CoBiz IM, Inc. (CoBiz IM). CoBiz Insurance, Inc. provides commercial, personal property and casualty (P&C) insurance brokerage, risk management consulting services to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals, and provides employee benefits consulting, insurance brokerage and related administrative support to employers. CoBiz IM provides wealth planning and investment management to institutions and individuals through its investment advisor subsidiary, CoBiz Wealth, LLC.
Lending Activities
The Company provides a range of lending services, including commercial loans, commercial and residential real estate construction loans, commercial and residential real estate-mortgage loans, consumer loans, revolving lines of credit and tax-exempt financing. Its primary lending focus is commercial and real estate lending to small- and medium-s! ized businesses with annual sales of $5 million to $75 million, and businesses and individuals with borrowing requirements of $250,000 to $15 million. Commercial loans consist of loans to small and medium-sized businesses in a range of industries. Real estate mortgage loans include various types of loans, for which the Company holds real property as collateral.
The Company originates loans to finance construction projects, including one- to four-family residences, multifamily residences, commercial office, senior housing and industrial projects. The Company provides a range of consumer loans to customers, including personal lines of credit, home equity loans, jumbo mortgage loans and automobile loans. Other loans include lending products, such as taxable and tax-exempt leasing, not defined as commercial, real estate, acquisition and development, construction, or consumer loans. The Company’s total loans amount to approximately $2.7 billion.
Investment Activities
The Company classifies its investment securities as held to maturity, available for sale or trading. Available for sale securities consist of bonds, notes and debentures (including corporate debt and trust preferred securities (TPS)) not classified as held to maturity securities. Investment securities held to maturity consist of residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS), bonds, notes and debentures. The total investment securities of the Company are approximately $345.58.
Sources of Funds
The Company’s sources of funds are customer deposits. The Company offers a range of accounts for depositors, which are designed to attract both short- and long-term deposits. These accounts include certificates of deposit (CDs), money market accounts, savings accounts, checking accounts and individual retirement accounts. The Company’s short-term borrowings include federal funds purchased, securities sold under agreements to repurchase, which mature within approximately 90 days, and a line of c! redit wit! h the federal home loan banks (FHLB). The deposits of the Company are totaled to approximately $2.7 billion.
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shane Hupp]
CoBiz Financial (NASDAQ:COBZ) and MB Financial (NASDAQ:MBFI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.
- [By Shane Hupp]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on CoBiz Financial (COBZ)
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
- [By Max Byerly]
CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ) declared a dividend on Friday, July 20th, Fidelity reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 30th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the bank on Monday, August 6th. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 27th.
- [By Ethan Ryder]
JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ) by 3,473.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 296,921 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 288,613 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in CoBiz Financial were worth $5,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust(ETX )
Eaton Vance Municipal Income 2028 Term Trust (formerly, Eaton Vance Municipal Income Term Trust) (the Trust) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Trust’s investment objective is to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax. The Trust’s portfolio of investments include education, electric utilities, general obligations, hospital, housing, industrial development, senior living or life care, student loan, transportation, water and sewer, among others. The Fund’s investment adviser is Eaton Vance Management. Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Max Byerly]
Etrion SA (TSE:ETX) – Equities researchers at National Bank Financial issued their Q4 2018 earnings estimates for shares of Etrion in a research note issued on Thursday, August 9th. National Bank Financial analyst R. Merer expects that the solar energy provider will post earnings of ($0.01) per share for the quarter. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Etrion’s FY2019 earnings at ($0.01) EPS.
Top 10 Clean Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: ANSYS, Inc.(ANSS)
ANSYS, a Delaware corporation formed in 1994, develops and globally markets engineering simulation software and services widely used by engineers, designers, researchers and students across a broad spectrum of industries and academia, including aerospace and defense, automotive, industrial equipment, electronics, biomedical, energy, materials and chemical processing, and semiconductors. Headquartered south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Company and its subsidiaries employed approximately 2,800 people as of December 31, 2015. The Company focuses on the development of open and flexible solutions that enable users to analyze designs directly on the desktop, providing a common platform for fast, efficient and cost-conscious product development, from design concept to final-stage testing and validation. Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Joseph Griffin]
TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: “1,712 Shares in ANSYS, Inc. (ANSS) Purchased by Wisconsin Capital Management LLC” was originally reported by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are viewing this piece on another publication, it was illegally stolen and republished in violation of U.S. and international copyright and trademark law. The correct version of this piece can be viewed at www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4201503/1712-shares-in-ansys-inc-anss-purchased-by-wisconsin-capital-management-llc.html.
- [By Lee Samaha]
The best way to play the theme is probably to buy the software companies that facilitate the creation of digital twins. Three names that spring to mind are engineering simulation company ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS), IoT platform provider PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC) and engineering software company Dassault Systemes (NASDAQOTH:DASTY).
- [By Max Byerly]
ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) VP Richard S. Mahoney sold 2,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.15, for a total value of $355,440.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.